Judgment by

William R. “Bill” Wooton

Candidate, Supreme Court of Appeals
Division 2
Judgment is an essential quality in a Supreme Court Justice. Judgment, Judge
and justice derive from the same root word. The very title of the position –
Justice – acknowledges the importance the quality of judgment is to those West
Virginians privileged to serve on our highest court.

The judgment of everyone in a position of responsibility must be subject to

review. The judgments of leaders of business lobbying organizations - such as
the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, or the Business and Industry Council -
are not infallible. Likewise, the judgments of leaders of unions such as the AFL-
CIO or the UMWA are not infallible.

While there are many examples of the errors in judgment of the leaders of those
organizations, I want to remind everyone of the prospect of electric utility
deregulation in West Virginia. In the late 1990’s most major electric utility
companies elected to promote deregulation in each of the several states. You
may remember that in West Virginia if you were an Appalachian Power customer
you suddenly begin receiving bills from American Electric Power. With
deregulation, billing would come from the corporate parent, and not from the
utility regulated within the state.

Deregulation legislation was introduced in West Virginia, quickly passed in the

House of Delegates, and was referred to the Senate’s Committee on the
Judiciary, of which I was Chair. There was a tremendous concentration of
political power promoting the passage of this legislation. Governor Underwood’s
administration embraced the bill, and the presidents of the West Virginia
Chamber of Commerce, the Business and Industry Council, the AFL-CIO, and
the UMWA all made public statements in support of the legislation. As a practical
matter, every organization with influence within the legislature was in favor of
passing the proposed legislation deregulating electric utilities in West Virginia.

Notwithstanding the virtually unanimous support the bill enjoyed, I was skeptical.
At the time consumers in West Virginia enjoyed among the lowest electric utility
rates in the nation. I did not believe deregulation of electric utilities in West
Virginia would improve the lives of West Virginia consumers; moreover, I was
concerned that deregulation would have an adverse impact on the overwhelming
majority of West Virginians.

I was in a lonely position, with virtually every person or organization with

influence in the legislature pushing for passage of the bill. There was so much
political muscle behind it that I was unable to completely kill the bill. However, in
the end I was able to delay implementation of this legislation for another year, to
allow a more detailed analysis by the legislature.

And that year’s delay brought the collapse of the business whose practices were
the model being followed by those favoring electric utility deregulation. And with
the collapse of the model (Enron), there have been no further cries for the
deregulation of electric utilities in West Virginia.

At the conclusion of this article is a copy of a Letter to the Editor written

approximately 10 years after the demise of the electric utility deregulation bill and
published in the November 10, 2010 edition of the Morgan Messenger. The
author of the letter – Charles Trump IV – was then serving in the House of
Delegates, and is now occupying the position I did at the time – Chair of the
Senate Judiciary Committee.

I am as proud of my efforts on electric utility deregulation as anything I did in 26

years in the legislature. I mentioned this in connection with my current campaign
for Supreme Court Justice as an example of the judgment I will bring to the
Supreme Court if elected, and to point out that the judgment of the paid leaders
of West Virginia’s business and labor organizations is not infallible.

Bill Wooton